IT'S NOT A LIFE; IT'S A CHOICE:

COPS DIG UP 'MONSTER' MOM'S KID (SELIM ALGAR, January 11, 2004, NY Post)

"Joey Hope," the newborn infant dumped in a garbage bag behind a restaurant three years ago, was exhumed yesterday as prosecutors prepared a second set of infanticide charges against his mother, law-enforcement sources said.

"The baby's being exhumed today," said Nassau County Police Department medical officer Tim Jaccard, who arranged for the child's burial in 2001. He said the medical examiner was conducting DNA tests on its remains.

Prosecutors believe Kathleen Brown, 26, of North Massapequa, gave birth, then dumped the baby behind the CafÈ Picasso in Williston Park on April 26, 2001.

Brown is facing a retrial in the death of another infant born, on Christmas Day 2001. Her conviction had been thrown out on a technicality, but a judge ordered her placed behind bars Friday after prosecutors linked her with DNA to baby Joey.

Restaurant owner Giuseppe "Joey" Capobianco, who found the corpse behind his eatery, said he named it after himself. The infant had been buried at Rood Cemetery in Westbury, L.I., by Safe Haven, a group that tends to abandoned newborns.

"I'm glad they found out who did it," said Capobianco. "I hope she gets what she deserves."

Now, now, who are we to judge the choice she made? After all, as General Clark says, life begins when Ms Brown says it does--which in this case just happens to have been never.

Posted by Orrin Judd at January 11, 2004 11:45 AM